She was the paternal grandchild of Littleberry "Berry" Bagwell and Mary Clara Walker, the "patriarch" of the Bagwells in Auburn. She was the gr-grandchild of Nathan B. Bagwell & Sarah "Sally" Mainor of Wake Co. She was the maternal grandchild of John C. & Elisabeth Thompson of Raleigh.

When she was 21-years old, Mary married 24-year old Sion R. Pool/Poole on December 5, 1878, son of Calvin Pool/Poole and his (2nd) wife, Cathrine Green.

The couple began married life as farmers in Auburn (St. Mary's), but later moved to Raleigh (c. 1900) where Sion opened a grocery store and Mary ran several boarding houses.

For reasons unknown, Calvin and Martha separated sometime before 1920, when Martha removed to Salisbury Street in Raleigh an opened a boarding house with her daughters Pattie, Etta, and Isabell, where they remained until their deaths.